The Denver Nuggets, one of the dark horses to go all the way in a ruthless Western Conference this season, has had a less than stellar start to the new campaign. On Thursday night, the Nuggets suffered their second defeat in their first five games against a shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans side.
For his part, fourth-year Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was quite displeased by the effort his entire team put out in their disappointing 122-107 defeat against New Orleans. As it turns out, the 22-year-old had some choice words to say to his teammates in the locker room following the game.
Murray described what went down in his post-game motivational speech to Nick Cosmider of The Athletic.
“I’m not going to repeat my message, but just said we need to bring a lot more effort,” Jamal Murray said. “We need to talk more, bring more energy, especially going into road games. Just try to come out, and if you miss shots, make mistakes on defense, whatever it is, just try to keep the energy high.”
Murray had the backing of Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, who believes that his young guard's message was something his team needed to hear at that point.
“We’re playing like it’s, you know —” Malone said, stopping himself before landing on a descriptor for what has been a grinding start for the Nuggets. “If we keep playing like that, things are going to get tight down to the end of the season. We don’t have that luxury. Last year is over. We have to come out with great urgency. He came out in New Orleans and spoke those words, and more importantly, he followed up those words.”
Murray certainly walked the walk in Denver's next game, as he accounted for a team-high 22 points (on 7-of-15 shooting), two 3-pointers, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal, as he led the Nuggets to a bounce back victory against the Orlando Magic, 91-87, on Saturday night.
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